Zero-Energy Manufactured Home

The Zero-Energy Manufactured Home (ZEMH) program demonstrates, evaluates, and promotes innovative energy-saving technologies for use in HUD-code housing.

All across the country, partnerships among government groups, nonprofits, and private industry are finding ways to make energy-efficient single-family and multifamily homes more affordable for everyone. Habitat for Humanity in Colorado worked with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to create a home that exceeded the goal of producing as much energy as it consumed over the course of a year (see “The Little House That Could,” HE Nov/Dec ’06, p. 24). Another notable project, the Zero-Energy Manufactured Home (ZEMH) program, demonstrates and promotes innovative energy-saving technologies to the HUD code manufactured-housing industry and the home-buying public, while evaluating those technologies’ energy performance. Manufactured homes are an affordable option for new-home buyers with limited incomes; 10%–20% of new homes sold are manufactured homes.